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Justice. Only Justice Shall Thou Pursue

Penn State University Priorities Askew

School officials say that the decision has come after a few years of deliberations about the use of the song and suggestive lyrics.

On Monday, it was revealed that Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” — a Beaver Stadium staple — will not be on the playlist when Penn State opens its season Saturday against Ohio U.

While the school denied the song’s removal had anything to do with the lyrics, “touching me, touching you,” it’s hard to imagine the powers that be at Penn State just decided the song had run its course.

“Sweet Caroline has been brought up in recent years as to whether or not it should remain a part of the playlist,” Greg J. Myford, Penn State’s associate athletic director of business relations & communications, said in a statement. “We hear from fans each year on whether or not we should continue it, given that it happens to be played in so many other professional and collegiate venues and has no real origination here at Penn State.”

It’s nice to see the school has its priorities straight.

The university considered removing the song from regular rotation in recent years? That means that Penn State devoted more attention to the playing of a song that has widespread airplay at sports events around the country - including as a mainstay of Boston Red Sox games - than it did to making sure that Sandusky's alleged sex abuse of minors was properly investigated and handled by law enforcement.

Penn State is more concerned about how it is viewed than in doing the right thing to protect the community.

The song has nothing to do with the scandal, and yet it has everything to do with how poorly school officials have handled the fiasco. It's an innocent bystander hit by the fallout, and the school's excuse rings hollow.

Penn State put more thought into removing the song from a playlist than it ever gave to Sandusky's abuse.